Delivery companies switch to hybrids

Coca-Cola this week introduced them in New York in a bid to save fuel and cut emissions.

By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the November 30, 2007 edition

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New York - Every day, Coca-Cola trucks slowly weave their way through New York traffic, eventually stopping at up to 18 grocery stores, restaurants, and bodegas. As a truck makes a delivery, the engine idles, burning fuel and spewing fumes.

But as of Wednesday, Coca-Cola Enterprises started to do things differently in New York. It is using hybrid delivery trucks, which operate just like the cars, using a combination of batteries and horsepower. When the trucks are unloading, there will be no fumes and idling diesel engines.

Instead, the shiny new red-and-white trucks will have 32 percent better fuel economy. And the hybrids' greenhouse-gas emissions will be 90 percent less than those from regular trucks, according to the manufacturer of the new vehicle.

"It's a small step, but it's one of those steps that if we keep taking, we will be leaving a better world for our kids," says Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Coca-Cola's transition to hybrid trucks is part of a push by urban delivery companies to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. As with the hybrid cars, demand for the green trucks is so strong that companies such as Coca-Cola are willing to pay a 35 to 40 percent premium over the cost of a normal delivery truck. Both FedEx and UPS are also building hybrid fleets in urban areas. In return, the companies cut their fuel consumption.

"You get a return on the investment, but more importantly, it's the right thing to do," says John Brock, president of Coca-Cola Enterprises in an interview at the company's giant distribution center in the South Bronx.

Environmental groups, who have pressed for cleaner air to deal with various health issues, are pleased to see the shift. The Coca-Cola distribution center, for one, is in a heavy industrial area with many trucks on the road. Medical testing has found high rates of asthma among local residents.

"That area has some of the nation's highest asthma rates, so looking for ways to reduce vehicle emissions is good," says Jason Babbie, senior environmental policy analyst at NYPIRG, a nonprofit policy lobbying group in Albany. "This is definitely a positive step."

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